Despite heavy rainfall in January that caused widespread flooding and food shortages in the region around the capital, Angola made significant advances on a number of fronts in 2007, owing mainly to its status as the second largest producer of crude oil in Africa south of the Sahara. On January 1 the country became the 12th full member of OPEC. Angola, already China’s largest supplier of crude oil, began negotiating deals with Russia. The Angolan government was eager, however, to encourage Angolan companies and individuals to become directly involved in the petroleum industry, in addition to supplying overseas companies with local produce and services. Hitherto, little of the wealth accrued from that industry had reached the vast majority of the population.

Further international recognition of Angola’s achievements followed in May with the country’s election as a member of the UN Human Rights Council, and in June an Angolan delegation took part in a meeting of member countries of the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic. The Angolan government established extensive links with neighbouring countries and played an active role in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), assuming the presidency in August of the SADC’s politics, defense, and security committee.

In June it was agreed at a meeting in Luanda that military relations with South Africa would be strengthened, while South Africa’s ambassador to Angola announced that his country intended to increase trade with Luanda. July and August were months of intensive diplomatic activity. An Angolan delegation to Harare exchanged plans with its Zimbabwean counterparts for improving tourism, and representatives of Angola and Namibia agreed to synchronize their campaigns against polio. Those two countries, together with Botswana, also discussed means of improving telecommunications. Discussions to promote cooperation in a range of activities also took place with Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mozambique, and Algeria. In July the visit to Angola of Pres. Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo facilitated discussions about ways to avoid disputes over the two countries’ common border and to strengthen ties of friendship.

During July 25–27 the second stage of a nationwide campaign against polio took place, and hundreds of thousands of children were immunized in provinces as far apart as Cabinda, Huambo, and Cunene. Improvement of the country’s infrastructure remained a priority, and provision was made for road improvements in the provinces of Luanda, Lunda Norte, and Malanje.

In March it was announced that the long-awaited elections to the National Assembly would take place in 2008, and opposition parties went into action to prepare for the contest. The leading opposition party, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), held its annual conference in July and reelected Isaias Samakuva as its president. Later in the month the politburo of the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) met to discuss the party’s problems, while the Solidarity and Conscience Party (PSCA) held its congress in September.

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